We downsized by ~2000 ft2. The biggest challenge for us was getting more storage in the smaller house. We ended up installing two large racks that hang down from the ceiling in the garage and hold quite a lot of stuff. The other challenge we had, is that a lot of our furniture has been a poor fit both in size and appearance for this much newer home. We have been slowly replacing some furniture pieces and coming up with more functional and better appearing rooms.

Any how, downsizing worked out great, reduced our taxes by almost 50%, and the same with utility costs and house cleaning tasks. Further, our yards are maintained as part of the HOA expense, which has saved us both time and money compared to the former mega mansion's half acre.

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We downsized by ~2000 ft2. The biggest challenge for us was getting more storage in the smaller house. We ended up installing two large racks that hang down from the ceiling in the garage and hold quite a lot of stuff. The other challenge we had, is that a lot of our furniture has been a poor fit both in size and appearance for this much newer home. We have been slowly replacing some furniture pieces and coming up with more functional and better appearing rooms.

Any how, downsizing worked out great, reduced our taxes by almost 50%, and the same with utility costs and house cleaning tasks. Further, our yards are maintained as part of the HOA expense, which has saved us both time and money compared to the former mega mansion's half acre.

What a great change that must be! The cost of any new furniture you might select can eventually be covered by the lower costs of taxes, utilities, and so on.

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__________________5/17/2018: Retired a second time, this time from my volunteer Admin duties. After 10 years of being on the team, and 40,000+ posts, the time just seemed right. It has been such fun to work with all of our Mods and Admins and I plan to stick around as a regular member.

What a great change that must be! The cost of any new furniture you might select can eventually be covered by the lower costs of taxes, utilities, and so on.

I moved from a condo to an over 55 mobile home park with a manufactured home. Space rent is about $600 a month. My condo HOA was 400 and taxes were about $233, so I am at a break even point because my taxes are now $30 a month

I moved from a condo to an over 55 mobile home park with a manufactured home. Space rent is about $600 a month. My condo HOA was 400 and taxes were about $233, so I am at a break even point because my taxes are now $30 a month

I hope you got a good price for your condo. That could be a boost to your nest egg, even though your monthly expenses are at a break even point.

__________________5/17/2018: Retired a second time, this time from my volunteer Admin duties. After 10 years of being on the team, and 40,000+ posts, the time just seemed right. It has been such fun to work with all of our Mods and Admins and I plan to stick around as a regular member.

Many members here don't have much use for the AARP, but they do offer some very good information for people in the retirement age bracket. Here's one particularly good article that goes into decluttering, along with some interesting estimates of cost to keep or get rid of.

DW is really good at getting rid of "stuff". So I have gradually adapted and we have a rule: If you have not used or referred to it in a year, you don't need it. It does not matter how good that book was. It goes to someone who might benefit from it.

If you find a need for it in the future, buy it online in soft copy. Far less of a fire hazard! And easier to move. We can leave books in the lobby of our condo and recycle automatically. In Mexico, there is a lovely coffee shop called "A Page in the Sun" who gives you partial credit against the purchase of other hard copy books in their extensive library.

(I think it was cassettes that taught me that lesson. Technology made them obsolete!)

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